Defense attorneys say the government goes too far in its portrayal of Trudeau, and he should get less than two years behind bars for a November criminal contempt conviction.

In their scathing, 41-page filing in U.S. District Court in Chicago this week, federal prosecutors suggest the 50-year-old Trudeau would likely even seek to cheat his fellow prison inmates, adding, "He appears capable of nothing else."

"(Trudeau) is an unrepentant, untiring and uncontrollable huckster who has defrauded the unsuspecting for thirty years," it says. It adds, "(He) preys upon the sick who want to be made healthy, the poor who want to become rich."

In a response filed Tuesday, Trudeau's attorneys said the prosecution's characterizations were "overblown and unfair."

"Contrary to the view of Trudeau advanced by the government, he is a man who has consistently displayed kindness, generosity, concern for others," the filing said.

Jurors convicted Trudeau in November of violating a court order barring him from making false claims about his best-selling book "The Weight Loss Cure They Don't Want You to Know About."

Trudeau aired infomercials touting the book at least 32,000 times, in violation of the court order; in all, he sold more than 850,000 books, generating $39 million in revenue and at least 5 million in profit, according to the federal document, filed Monday.